Apple Picking
by montycrowley
Summary: Apples taste the best when shared with acquaintances! Comrades? Friends? Hijikata decides to take a walk on his off-day and inadvertently runs into Kagura.


Disclaimer: Nope!

**A/N: **Inspired by an artwork on a Japanese site, with additions/tweaks of mine. (SIGH) This fandom needs more attention…and with my help, IT SHALL. RAWR. :D

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**Apple-Picking**

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**Apples Taste the best when Shared with Acquaintances! Comrades? Friends?**

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The lone Shinsengumi vice-commander took a long drag of his nicotine stick, his eyes tracing the smoke as he exhaled the fumes. With one hand shoved in his pocket, walking idly on the streets was definitely his way of relaxing on a free day. He was almost…dare he say it?

Blissful.

_No sadistic bastards trying to shoot me, no idiot captains to look after, no crazy Nationalists to chase after today… _Hijikata thought, sticking his cigarette into his mouth. _It's peaceful, for once… _

He stopped in his leisure stroll, dark eyes fixating on something.

Some_one. _

_Isn't that…? _

A few meters ahead of him was a petite girl with red Chinese attire, a hand propped under one chin and a thoughtful expression on her face. Her eyebrows were knit together in deep concentration; she did not notice the Shinsengumi officer.

_The crazy girl in the Yorozuya group? What's she doing here? _

He blinked, noticing her attention on something…he traced her sight and found…

"An apple?" Hijikata asked incredulously before he could stop himself.

Kagura glanced at him sharply, as if realizing he was there for the first time. Her previous serious expression transitioned into a delighted smile. Without a moment's notice, she jabbed her pointer finger at the juicy fruit hanging precariously on a high branch.

"Get it for me."

He raised a questioning eyebrow at her look. "What?"

She frowned. "Fine then, lift me up so I can get it."

Hijikata stared, the lit cigarette momentarily forgotten between his fingertips.

Kagura pouted, raising her arms at him. "Come on, I'm hungry! You wouldn't leave a starving girl would you? That's cruel! Cold-hearted! Sadistic! Ice King! You'll be the next Attila the Hun!!"

The Shinsengumi vice-commander's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. _Little brat… _He thought as Kagura unveiled her devious smirk at her repertoire of name-calling._ Like hell I will! _

Before he could swivel on the balls of his feet and leave, Kagura's devilish features softened into a quirky upturn of the lips.

"Please?" she asked sheepishly.

Hijikata was rooted to the ground, bewildered. His smoky eyes glanced at the tantalizing apple swinging idly in the wind. Then he breathed in deeply and released the warm nicotine fumes through his lips. Before he knew it, he was bending down on one knee.

"Get on," he beckoned with a hand, grumbling.

Kagura grinned; she quickly hopped over to him. Hijikata hoisted the petite girl onto his shoulder, one hand holding her legs securely.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed as he straightened to his full height – the perfect length for her to comfortably reach the Fruit That Started This.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hijikata caught the look of awe on the girl's face as she grasped the apple with two hands. Her azure eyes were wide and her lips formed a small 'oh'.

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes.

_Tch. All this fuss for a stupid apple. _

"Ooooh," Kagura revered, eyes shining as she bit into the apple, "Delicious!"

The sweet scent of the apple tickled his nose.

Unbeknownst to Hijikata, his eyebrows quirked and his lips quivered into a silly side-smirk.

It _did _smell good.

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"Where've you been?" Gintoki asked from his laying-down position on the long chair, face covered with a Jump magazine as Kagura entered the apartment.

The girl took another bite into her apple, striding right past him to take a seat on the opposite chair. She propped an arm on the back. "Amound," she answered airily, her words muffled by her chewing.

The white-haired samurai lifted his beloved reading material off of his face and regarded the apple with a suspicious look. "Did you get that from a stranger?"

Kagura faced up towards the white ceiling; she took another bite.

"Nope, definitely not a stranger."

- _fin_ -

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**Reviews are love, even though I'm not expecting at all since the fandom's so damn small. (despair) But they're welcome anyways! Helpful critiques are great. Spreading the word of Gintama fics is even better. **


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